Bairbre de Brún MEP: Gaza Diaries

international | eu | news report Friday January 15, 2010 14:46 by redjade

these are reports from her Facebook page - since I cannot find these writings elsewhere I will liberate these texts from globo-corporate control....

Bairbre de Brún

January 13th 2010 - Day 1
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bairbre-de-Brun-MEP/14235...29175

On the plane now from Cairo to Brussels with several MEPs including Nessa Childers and Aidan O Sullivan from Nessa's office.
Further up the plane I see German MEP Helmut Scholz and Portugese MEP Marisa Matias, while Borris Zala MEP from Slovakia sits across the aisle from us. He speculates about what the situation will be like on the ground in Gaza.

British MEP Richard Howitt reminds us that other delegations in recent times have expected to get into Gaza but haven't managed at the last minute. "We're not in until we're in" he says. How right he is.

This morning in Brussels we had a meeting of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Palestine where the chair Proinsias de Rossa gave an account of that delegation's visit to Palestine in December and the u-turn by the Israeli government which had given them visas and then told them at the last minute that they would not be able to enter Gaza.

They spoke of the very serious situation on the West Bank with expulsions of Palestinians and the continued building of settlements.

There is some discussion about the present talk of re-starting negotiations and the Palestinian representative in his presentation to the delegation members spoke of the importance of halting all settlement building.

Israeli statements about not sharing Jerusalem is also an issue for people at the meeting and there is some welcome for the EU Council statement of 8 December that the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including Jerusalem other than those agreed by the parties.

I gave the meeting some information about our European parliamentarians delegation to Gaza this week and promise to give an account of our visit on our return.

It is now 10.30 at night. We have arrived at Cairo airport and met up with delegates coming off the other flights. Among those on the flight from Heath row are Jeremy Corbyn, Claire Short and the leader of the delegation Gerald Kaufmann. There is a great buzz as people meet old friends and acquaintances. The logistics of moving a group this size from place to place will be quite something.

There are some very impressive buildings on the journey in from the airport but they pass by in a haze. Cairo speed limits or the lack of them are quite something also.

Tonight we soak up the atmosphere of Cairo and of meeting the other delegation members
Tomorrow morning first thing we leave for Gaza.